Basketball is back, as is your opportunity to pay attention to something other than the South Carolina football team and your search for head coaches! Although the season is young – and we’ve seen COVID-19 play the men’s show through a canceled exhibition game – here’s a quick week under review if you’re busy updating flight trackers and the like.
Number 1 women on display, pass some tests
While the Gamecock men had their pre-season adjustment against Coker canceled, the women had a chance to face the College of Charleston, posting an overwhelming 119-38 victory against the defeated Cougars. However, it was a different story for the next two games in South Carolina at the Bad Boy Mowers Classic (yes, you read that correctly) in Sioux Falls, SD. The Gamecocks were tied in half with South Dakota before using a big third quarter to start a 81-71 victory that was not so close, before enduring a tough challenge from No. 21 Gonzaga that made the Gamecocks emerge victory by 79-72.
Junior guard Destanni Henderson received MVP honors from the tournament after registering his career record of 23 points against the Zags and 19 against the Coyotes. She was also a clutch 10 of 13 on the free-throw line against Gonzaga, which helped spark the Gamecocks’ final rally to end the game. Zia Cooke also had an impressive start to the season, scoring 19 points against South Dakota and 16 against the Zags.
Next, women have two ranked opponents on the agenda this week: No. 8 NC State on Thursday, followed by a Sunday trip to No. 23 Iowa State. As Wolfpack is an ascendant program and also the current ACC champion, I will be watching the one with interest.
Men fight against Freedom, the right ship against Tulsa
I can’t lie to you guys – although women may have found surprisingly petty competition in the tournament at the start of the season, men looked horrible on their first time on the court for the Hall of Fame Classic. The Flames were comfortably ahead for much of their 78-62 victory, burying the Gamecocks under a 3-point avalanche (11 of 26) and shooting 56% of the field in what was a forgettable South Carolina defensive performance. To be fair, the offensive performance was not much better – USC got 39% warm, with 12 points from AJ Lawson serving as the best team.) Fortunately, the Gamecocks came around the next time, reaching the end of 15-0 they ran while holding Tulsa goalless for almost nine minutes, ensuring a solid 69-58 victory with the strength of 20 points from Jermaine Couisnard and 17 from Lawson.
Gamecocks were designed (and expected) by many to make the NCAA Tournament, so what we saw last week was not very encouraging – especially for those whose patience is waning with Frank Martin and his propensity to abandon the first non- conference. I’m not hitting the panic button yet – who knows, maybe missing that Coker display was SO important to get off to a good start – but I’m watching it with some caution.
South Carolina then travels to Houston on Saturday, and then stops until it receives Wofford the following Thursday.